


Magic in These Memories

by probsnothawkeye



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Light Angst, M/M, Mentions of Death, No beta we kayak like Tim, and needed an outlet, i just have a lot of feelings about LNY, martin is once again half chinese in this, once again because i'm half chinese, self indulgent self projection, some fluff?, why am i so bad at tagging
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-12 04:15:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29379078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/probsnothawkeye/pseuds/probsnothawkeye
Summary: A study in cleaning, memories, and Lunar New Year traditionsorI project my family's LNY traditions and how much I miss my grandmother onto Martin (it's nicer than it sounds i promise)
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Comments: 10
Kudos: 29





	Magic in These Memories

**Author's Note:**

> Hello hello!  
> Happy Lunar New Year!  
> I just wanted to write something short for LNY, especially since I can't be with my family this year because I'm away at college. This is largely based on my family's traditions and things I remember from celebrating LNY as a kid. That being said, it is what we personally did, it might not be accurate to other cultures or even other Chinese people. This is just how we celebrated.  
> Also it turned into a bit of a vent fic by accident. LNY always makes me miss my grandmother and I've explored those feelings some through Martin.  
> Also also this could be seen as a continuation of my fic "On the Moon Above" but you don't have to read that to understand this at all, I just think of them as connected.  
> Title is taken from "Mooncakes" which is a song from Over the Moon (I have a lot of feelings about Over the Moon and all of the music in it I really loved that movie)  
> Hope you enjoy!

Martin was frantically cleaning the safehouse. 

He and Jon tried their best to keep things tidy, but this was a different type of cleaning. A type of cleaning Jon had never seen his boyfriend do before. “Martin? Is everything alright?” 

“Everything’s fine,” Martin said distractedly, running the vacuum over the same spot of the rug yet again. He did this a few more times before moving on to a different area of the rug, seemingly pleased with the results. It was as he finished on the rug that he really seemed to take stock of Jon standing there. “Oh! I… I’m cleaning?”

“I can see that,” Jon said with a small smile, taking the vacuum out of Martin’s hands as he clicked it off. “You’re cleaning much more vigorously than usual. Is something wrong?”

Martin looked a bit sheepish as he took stock of the newly cleaned living room. “No, no, nothing’s wrong it’s just…”

“Just?”

“The lunar new year starts tomorrow. Mum always told me it was bad luck not to clean before the new year,” Martin continued tidying their small coffee table, not meeting Jon’s eyes. “I know it’s a bit silly, worrying about bad luck when we’re literally hiding away from eldritch horrors. It just… felt wrong not to clean, you know?”

Jon reached out and grabbed Martin’s hand, bringing his focus up from the table. “There’s nothing silly about continuing with a tradition, especially if it’s something you’ve been doing for such a long time. How can I help?”

Relief washed over Martin at Jon’s offer to help and his ready acceptance of this little tradition. “Well, I still need to vacuum in our room and mop in the kitchen and bathroom… would you mind taking care of the bedroom while I go find the mop?”

Jon nodded, taking the vacuum to the bedroom and watching as Martin continued to flit about the safehouse looking for more cleaning supplies. It took most of the morning, but the two of them were able to get the house to a state of clean that it hadn’t been since they had first arrived at the safehouse. Collapsed on the couch next to each other, Jon turned to his boyfriend. “Is there anything else we need to be doing? To celebrate the new year?”

Martin pondered this for a moment. “My gran used to insist on haircuts. She told my mum it was unlucky, so my mum told me it was unlucky. I always tried to get out of it, she always tried to give me a bowl cut,” Martin shuddered at the memory, his mother’s rough instance that he needed to cut his hair, the silly way it sat on his head until it grew out a bit more. “Kind of wish I still had pictures from then, I think you’d get a kick out of it.”

“I’m sure you were a very cute kid,” Jon said, leaning his head on Martin’s shoulder. “Anything else?”

“We usually had some kind of chicken, also for luck. Lots of our traditions revolved around luck in the new year now that I think about it,” Martin said with a small laugh. “Suppose we could use all the luck we can get with how things are going around here.”

A comfortable silence settled over them as they laid huddled together, watching the fire and resting after their day of cleaning. Martin liked being able to share this with Jon, being able to share bits of himself and his culture with someone who clearly cared about him. It felt like love, like warmth and happiness and connection. He felt content in a way he hadn’t for a while. Jon looked up at him, as if sensing his contentedness, and smiled “What else did you do for the new year?”

“Used to do a big thing when my gran was still alive,” Martin said softly to Jon, lacing their fingers together and running his thumb along Jon’s. “She and my mum would be in the kitchen all day, cooking things and talking to my aunts on the phone.”

Martin remembered fondly the last time the whole family had been together. It was the year before his father had left, the year before his aunts and cousins had moved to America, the last year he was truly happy. Cousins chasing him around his grandmother’s apartment, trying to get him to kiss the head of a shrimp with its eyes still in its head. His mother, grandmother, and aunts all talking in loud Cantonese, a language Martin never learned but still cherished. His uncle, napping on the couch, somehow immune to the controlled chaos around him. The world was bright, full of familiar sounds and scents and a warmth that Martin hadn’t even realized he had been lacking. 

His father left. His aunts left. No more cousins to chase him around the flat, no more loud, happy conversations in Chinese, no more warmth.

He didn’t even notice the tears until he felt Jon’s hand reaching up to wipe them away. “Sorry, sorry. Just… Just remembering things is all. Did I ever tell you about my gran?” “She was a fierce, stubborn old woman. She drove my mum crazy half the time, I mean she insisted on living alone in a third floor flat up until she passed. She climbed those stairs every day, which always worried my mum and my aunts, but she did it. She didn’t want anyone’s help, and honestly she didn’t need it,” A soft smile found its way back onto Martin’s face as he pictured her. Her short hair and frail looking body that hid the fire and youth in her eyes. He pictured her waiting on the stairs for him to arrive to take her over to his mum’s, always out there early but never looking at him impatiently. 

“It was never the same after she passed,” Martin choked out, feeling the tears start to fall faster down his face. “Mum wouldn’t even look at me that new year. Don’t think she really looked at me at all once gran was gone. It felt wrong to celebrate when she was gone. Still feels a bit wrong now, if I’m being honest.”

“Martin…” Jon started softly, before pulling Martin into a tight, all encompassing hug. “It’s okay to miss her, Martin. It’s… Loss can be difficult, even after time has passed. You’re allowed to miss her, especially now.”

Martin all but collapsed into Jon, savoring the warmth and protection that came from being around his boyfriend. “I think she would’ve liked you,” he muttered into Jon’s shoulder through all the tears. “She definitely didn’t like all of my cousins’ spouses, but I think she would’ve liked you. She would’ve liked how happy you make me.” 

Martin feels as much as he hears Jon’s sharp intake of breath. “I bet I would’ve liked her too. Tell me some more about her?”

Martin smiled, pressed a kiss into Jon’s shoulder, and did just that.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos are always appreciated but never required. If you liked this, you can find me on tumblr (my username is the same now!) I'm always open to prompts, it gives me something to do when I'm drowning in coursework. I hope you all have a very pleasant Lunar New Year! Gung hay fat choy!


End file.
